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Pont d'Iéna | |
|---|---|
 Pont d'Iéna | |
| Coordinates | 48°51′35″N02°17′32″E / 48.85972°N 2.29222°E /48.85972; 2.29222 |
| Crosses | Seine |
| Locale | Paris, France |
| Official name | Pont d'Iéna |
| Maintained by | civil service |
| Next upstream | Passerelle Debilly |
| Next downstream | Pont de Bir-Hakeim |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Total length | 155 m (509 ft) |
| Width | 35 m (115 ft) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1814 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | pedestrians and cyclists |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Pont d'Iéna | |
Pont d'Iéna (French pronunciation:[pɔ̃djena], "Jena Bridge") is a bridge spanning the RiverSeine in Paris. It links theEiffel Tower on theLeft Bank to the district ofTrocadéro on theRight Bank.
In 1807, an imperial decree issued byNapoleon I ordered the construction of a bridge overlooking theMilitary School, and named it after his victory in 1806 at theBattle of Jena, disregarding other names considered previously:pont duChamp-de-Mars andpont de l'École militaire.
During the occupation of Paris by theAllies, PrussianGeneral Blücher wanted to destroy the Pont d'Iéna, which was named after a French victory against Prussia. The Prefect of Paris tried everything to change the mind of Blücher, without success, and finally went toTalleyrand asking him whether he could write a letter to the General asking him not to destroy the bridge. Talleyrand instead wrote toTsar Alexander, who was in person in Paris, asking him to grant to the people of Paris the favour of inaugurating himself the bridge under a new name (Pont de l'École militaire). The Tsar accepted, and Blücher could not then destroy a bridge inaugurated by an Ally. The name of the bridge was reverted to its original name underLouis-Philippe at Talleyrand's instigation.[1]
The structure was designed with five arches, each with an arc length of 28 m, and four intermediatepiers. The initial construction, the cost of which was enormous at the time, was fully financed by the State and spanned six years from 1808 to 1814.
Thetympana along the sides of the bridge had been originally decorated with imperial eagles conceptualized byFrançois-Frédéric Lemot and sculpted byJean-François Mouret. The eagles were replaced with the royal letter "L" soon after the fall of theFirst Empire in 1815 but in 1852, whenNapoléon III ascended the throne of theSecond Empire, new imperial eagles, this time by the chisel ofAntoine-Louis Barye, replaced the royal "L".
Put in place in 1853, on the two ends of the bridge, are four sculptures sitting on top of four corresponding pylons: aGallic warrior byAntoine-Augustin Préault and aRoman warrior byLouis-Joseph Daumas by theRight Bank; anArab warrior byJean-Jacques Feuchère and aGreek warrior byFrançois-Théodore Devaulx by theLeft Bank.
Towards the second half of the 19th century, the inadequacy of the bridge's carrying capacity started to become a pronounced problem. With the increasing traffic resulting from the expansion of the districts of Trocadéro,Auteuil andPassy, the necessity to enlarge the structure (the width of which was no more than 14 m, including the pavements) in a durable fashion grew as time went on.
Not until 1937, with the prospect of the upcomingWorld Fair drawing closer, did the French government decide to execute the project, which was all the more necessary as the structure was starting to show sure signs of deterioration. As well as the widening operation, reduced to just 35 meters from the planned 40 meters, the project also transformed the bridge with two additional concrete elements placed at either end, joining to the existing bridge with metalgirders. Stonefacings were used to protect the concrete tympana, the imperial eagles put back in place and the four statues repositioned accordingly during the bridge expansion.
This bridge has been part of the supplementary registry of historic monuments since 1975.
The steps leading off the bridge are popularly known among film fans as the "Renault stairs", as they featured in a scene inA View to a Kill whereJames Bond (played byRoger Moore) drove a hijackedRenault 11 taxi down the steps in pursuit of an assassin later revealed to be May Day (Grace Jones).[2]
Since the2024 Summer Olympics, the bridge is only accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.
| Located near theMétro station: Iéna. |
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